


when warmth is not enough

by teenyappletea (whimsyappletea)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Drabble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Feels, Hurt/Comfort, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 02:24:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6219952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsyappletea/pseuds/teenyappletea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>to heal her golden boy’s quiet heartache. —marinette, adrien.</p>
            </blockquote>





	when warmth is not enough

**Author's Note:**

> post-episode two – in another universe where adrien inadvertently discovers who _really_ sent him the scarf. c:

.  
.  
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**when warmth is not enough**   
_to heal her golden boy’s quiet heartache._

.

“I – I’m sorry,” Marinette stammers, watching as realization dims the light in his eyes and loosens his grip on the fluffy blue cloth. This is precisely why she’d refused to correct him. This is exactly what she’d been trying to avoid. “I didn’t tell you – it’s just – you looked so _happy_ – ”

“It’s fine,” he reassures her, but the damage has been done and it hurts all the same. “The scarf was a lovely gift, Marinette. It’s really well-made. Thank you.”

She bites her lip. “Um – if it helps, your father – ”

“It’s _fine_ ,” Adrien stresses, with a razor-sharp edge that slices right through her words. When she recoils in stunned silence, his expression softens. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to – ” He inhales sharply. Tries to choke everything back down. “He does the same thing every year. I’m used to it by now, really.”

And – and it’s _frightening_ to see the smile lingering on his lips, hollow and flimsy and subdued. To see the smile so familiar become something so _foreign_ , making her feel cold inside for the first time.

But surely this isn't the first time for him.

She lays a tentative hand on his shoulder. “Just because it happens all the time doesn’t mean you’re used to it, Adrien.” Undeterred by his lack of response, she goes on firmly, like diamonds crushed under intense pressure: “You _shouldn’t_ be used to it.”

Marinette knows it doesn’t help much, but she takes the scarf from him anyway, looping it around his neck and quietly wishing for its warmth to seep through his skin, his bones, his heart.

“Yeah.” His quiet chuckles are muffled by the fabric. “Yeah. Thank you, Marinette. You’re very kind.”

She smiles, soft as snow, and lets her fingers linger over the woollen material.

It’s wet.

.  
 **owari.**  
.  
.  
.

**Author's Note:**

>  **disclaimer:** i do not own _Miraculous Ladybug_.


End file.
